


your words on my skin

by mm8



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Torchwood
Genre: ALL the tags, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Getting Together, Missing Scene, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Self-Hatred, Sort Of, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Time Skips, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony Stark still lives in NYC, Tony Stark-centric, Torchwood Season 2 Fix-it, just because
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-08 14:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12256029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/pseuds/mm8
Summary: Tony's mark was gone.If his dad was still alive, Tony  was sure he'd be laughing his ass off.





	your words on my skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Meatball42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meatball42/gifts).



> I have no idea why, but I listened to the album 1989 from Taylor Swift while writing this. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Tony's soulmark had been scrawled over his heart since July 1975. He'd been five for a few months at that point. He was like a typical five year old, wanting everything under the sun, and full of questions.

Tony had woken up from his afternoon nap with a scream, clawing at his chest, held down by two of his nannies-- one sitting on his legs, the other doing her best to force his hands over his head. 

A doctor, a dear friend of his dad, made a house call twenty minutes after the attack began. It only took a few minutes for him to diagnose that Tony's mark was coming in. The doctor told his mom the usual spiel-- drink lots of fluids, bed rest for at least a day, rub itching cream on the spot of appearance.

All Tony could think about was how this hurt so much worse than the chicken pox he'd had at New Years.

It took two days for the mark bloom. When it was done and his chest didn't burn anymore, Tony had jumped from his bed, landed on the floor on his hands and knees, but quickly recovered. He ran to the bathroom down the hall that was across from his parents' room. Tony hopped up onto the stool he used to reach the sink when washing his hands or brushing his teeth. He pulled up his night shirt and held the hem with his chin. 

_Did you hack my program?_

A bright smile splashed over Tony's face. His mark was awesome! His mate was _smart_! And they'd be smart like him and dad! The handwriting was tiny, neat, the mark only covered a couple inches. It was definitely smaller than his mom or dad's marks.

Tony shifted his gaze to the upper right corner of the mirror to see his father's reflection. Dad was frowning; hell it was more like a pout. His eyes traveled between Tony's mark to his face, and back again. Without a single word, his dad left the bathroom, his usual light footsteps were heavy and pronounced.

Tony's pretty sure that was the moment his father started to despise him. He didn't know why.

It'd been cool that summer.

He hated being five.

Thirty-four years later when Rhodey found him in Afghanistan, barely coherent, exhausted, and half-dead, Tony remembered the medics ripping off his sleeveless shirt and pants to properly examine any injuries.

Tony could still hear Rhodey suck in his breath and let out a choked sob as his shirt was finally pulled over his head so the shit storm he used to call his chest was shown off to be as ugly as Tony had always thought it'd been.

" _Tony_."

He'd shut his eyes tight as hesitate fingers brushed over the edges of the arc reactor, grazing the skin. The wound was still fresh and raw so Tony winced his pain, letting out a long hiss. His best friend retracted his fingers immediately.

Tony hated the sound of Rhodey's voice-- so sad, so hurt, so… fucking pitiful.

It wasn't any better when he was with Pepper the first time after getting home. She'd _known_ that he'd gone through hell. She'd _known_ that he had trauma. She _known_ that he really didn't want to be around people, and was more sensitive to shit than he'd ever been before.

Yet after they finally got back to the mansion after speaking to over a dozen news outlets, and he had the courage to unbutton his nice shirt, showing her his bare chest, Pepper gasped. She covered his mouth with her hand and turned away from him. Her whole body shook as she tried to suppress her tears. Tony let out a long, exasperated sigh before wrapping his good arm around her and pulled her close to his chest.

"Your words," she hiccuped between breakdowns. "Oh God, Tony."

He didn't say anything.

All he had wanted to do was relax and forget that the past few months had ever happened.

They didn't have sex like they had done so many times before when they would be reunited after being separated. Neither of them were in the mood. It seemed to be a bit of a moot point. Instead they laid in bed side-by-side, not touching and staying on their respective side. He'd waited until Pepper's breathing evened out to slip out of their bed. Tony headed for the kitchen, opened a bottle of vintage wine, and swallowed the whole thing in a few gulps.

His mark was gone. 

Shrapnel from his own bomb made sure of that. How ironic.

If there was a heaven, or a hell, or the Summerland, or whatever fuck kind of afterlife there might be, then Tony knew, just _knew_ that his dad was laughing his ass off.

~~~

"Mr. Stark, please. We have to go over this," Agent Coulson pleaded. He had a tablet in his hand. The man was smiling sweetly, but Tony didn't miss white knuckled grip.

"I don't have to do _anything_." He held up his glass of wine in a toast motion, before taking a sip. Tony pulled the glass from his lips, coughing, and trying his best not to spew the liquid back up. "That was a present from a top oil executive from Texas. _Eech_. JARVIS, tell Pepper to write a thank you note to Mr. Garza for the wine."

"Sir, I must say that from past experiences, Miss. Potts--"

"Don't worry about it, JARV." Tony waved his hand in mid-air, turning his back to Agent Coulson to make a point that he didn't care for whatever he was selling.

Except that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent _didn't_ get the hint and walked in a circle to face Tony once again. "Do you want to be considered for the Avengers initiative or not, Mr. Stark?" He strode forward, holding the tablet out for Tony to take. "You need to fill out all the necessary information."

Tony grimaced, staring at the tablet like it was gross and insulting. "I don't like to be handed things," he snipped.

Agent Coulson bit his lower lip like he was trying to hold back his irritation. He gave him a _look_. Tony knew that look-- it was the one that mothers used when their kids were being dumb little shits. It was almost a permanent fixture on his mom's face.

"Mr. Stark, we need additional information from you so we can make a full evaluation."

"Isn't that what Wikipedia and La Femme Nikita are for?"

"Not everything is on Wikipedia, and there are certain things that Agent Romanoff was unable to find out."

Tony eyed Coulson up and down. "Did Pepper let you in?"

JARVIS," he corrected. "Back to the matter at hand, Mr. Stark. We--"

"You're not going to just… go away are you?" Tony sighed deeply. "Alright, fire away." Tony slumped further onto the leather couch, the small of his back just about touched the seat.

Agent Coulson heaved a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders lowering. "Thank you. Now Mr. Stark, if you were a cereal, which would you be and why?"

"Honey Smacks," Tony answered without any thought. "Love Dig'em."

"If you could sing any song on American idol, what would it be?"

"Heart of Glass. Blondie."

"What?" Coulson's face contorted in disbelief. "That's not even in your range."

"Don't judge my choices. I'm already disturbed that you know my range in the first place. Are these really questions?"

"Yes, they'd fairly standard. It helps evaluate what sort of person you are, and what you would do in a pressured situation."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's a load of shit."

Agent Coulson kept tapping away on the tablet, and didn't look up as he spoke. "Where is your soulmark located, and what does it say? Do you know who your soulmate is?"

Tony balled up his fists, and bit the inside of his cheek. "It's none of your goddamn business."

"In fact it _is_ S.H.I.E.L.D.'s business, Mr. Stark. What will we do if--"

"I don't care. If that's all you need, then I don't want to be part of your little superhero club."

"Mr. Stark, please, someone like yourself must understand how private knowledge--"

"Should stay _private_. I've worked hard all of my life for the public not to get ahold of that particular tidbit. Could you imagine a horde of people knocking on my door saying they're my soulmate when they're not? I have enough trouble dealing with people's bullshit, Agent Coulson. I am not about to have anyone, especially S.H.I.E.L.D., hold my soulmark over me."

"Would it help if I told you about mine?" Coulson didn't wait for a reply. "It's on the inside of my upper left thigh," he said cooly. "It says 'Hello'."

Tony blinked. " _Jesus_."

Coulson let out a little laugh. "It's alright. I made my peace with it a long time ago. Some of us don't have the luxury to have something purely unique." That was when Tony noticed that Agent Coulson was talking to his nicely polished shoes. 

"It's gone." Tony tapped the glowing arc reactor. "It hasn't been there since Afghanistan."

Coulson's demeanor changed. "I'm sure you have heard 'I'm sorry' too many times as well?" He didn't wait for a response as he tapped away on the screen. "I'll write not applicable."

It hurt when S.H.I.E.L.D. said he was too unstable, too selfish, too _unpredictable_ be on the team.

~~~

After they averted the destruction of New York, and ate shawarma cause holy shit shawarma was the more amazing than he ever imagined, Tony invited everyone back to Stark Tower. He wasn't sure what he expected to happen, but it wasn't exactly what ended up happening.

Thor fell face first onto the floor before the group even reached the elevator on the first floor. Bird guy had given him an experimental poke before they left to go up to Tony's private quarters.

Bird guy or Clint as he later learned, found the highest spot in the open common area and _perched_ , actually fucking _perched_ and stayed up there. It was creepy.

Natasha didn't say a word, opting to plop down on the leather sofa, prop her dirty boots onto the coffee table, and read the nearest magazine.

Bruce and Steve were the only ones who seemed uncomfortable. Bruce was swaying side to side, holding his left elbow with his right hand, eyes darting about. Tony figured Bruce was used to doing that after years of hiding from the government. Steve stood tall, stoic, but awkward all at the same time.

Tony sighed. "Hey Bruce?" The scientist whipped his head around to face him. "You can go down to my lab if you want? Special privilege for a man after my own heart. I never let anyone down there. Right Jarvis?"

"Sir does not let anyone down in his personal lab, Dr. Banner," JARVIS sounded calm and reassuring. "It would be an honor to escort you."

Bruce's eyes lit up. Tony wasn't sure if it was because of him or JARVIS. "Really?"

"Yeah. In fact," Tony dug around one of the pockets of his jeans and took out a large keyring. "Go at it. Full access pass. It'll be interesting what you think." He tossed the keys to Bruce who caught them. 

"This way, Dr. Banner," JARVIS spoke, changing the color of the overhead lights to green for Bruce to follow. At first he looked between Tony and the lights, unsure. Tony waved at him, encouraging him to go, then Bruce finally left with JARVIS giving him commentary.

"Do you want to go to your room, Cap?" Tony didn't wait for an answer as he jogged to the elevator, and restlessly waited for Steve to catch up.

The elevator had barely shut, when Steve opened his mouth.

"What's Galaga?"

Tony barked out a laugh, holding his gut. "Really? After the Gods, after the aliens, after all the pop culture references that you didn't get, after all _that_ , your first question is _What's Galaga?_ Christ, you didn't even ask what shwarma was."

Steve shrugged. "It sounded like food the way you were talking about it, and my assumption was correct. I dunno what on earth Galaga could be."

"It's a game; a video game from the 80s," Tony rolled his eyes when he was greeted with a blank stare. "The game. Made in the 1980s. You hooked up the Atari to a TV… Jesus has anyone explained TVs to you yet? Even VCRs? Well I'm not going to be on charge of that culture lesson," he rambled. Steve was still waiting for a coherent explain. "It's a game. You go pew-pew and the aliens die."

"Like in real life?"

"Oh my God," Tony ran his palm down his face. "Please, please, please tell me you have a different question after all that happened?"

"Okay," Steve sounded hesitant. "What did it mean by not applicable on your file? Under the question about your soulmark it said _not applicable_. Does that mean--? Whoa!"

"Oh _God_ no. No, no, no, just _no_." Tony strode forward with purpose six feet until he was almost chest-to-chest with Steve, effectively pinning the superhero to the wall. "Don't you dare, don't you dare! I do _not_ need a pity party from _you_!" He poked at Steve's hard chest. "Fury told you, didn't he? He told you about the pathetic asshole who lost his mark." He hit the glowing arc reactor and pretended it didn't hurt.

Steve arched a single eyebrow. "I thought it meant that you didn't have one."

Tony scoffed. "Don't be idiotic. Everyone has a soulmark."

"I don't."

The elevator doors dinged and were opened to the lavish sitting room of the ninety-first was revealed. Steve pushed past him to stand in the middle of the room, gazing up at the floor to ceiling windows that dimmed the room in the twilight. "So which room is mine?"

"This whole floor's yours," Tony brushed off. He whirled on Steve who seemed to be in shock that an entire floor was all his. "Hey, hey, hey." He grasped the hero's big bicep. "What-- what did you mean by that? I read you file. You _have_ a soulmark. Right bicep," Tony squeezed Steve's arm to make a point. "It says something retro and stupid like-- like--"

"Hey, your friend's a dead ringer for James Cagney," Steve recited with a deep frown. "Yeah, I made it up."

"You're _Captain America_ , you don't make shit up!"

"Steve titled his head to the side. "Of course I do. Everyone lies. I lied about having a soulmark so I could get into the army. I lied about a lot of things. This isn't public knowledge, but surely Howard--"

"Don't say my dad's name," Tony snapped. He looked down at his shoes, dirty and caked with debris from the fight. He hated it whenever his dad was brought up by anyone. Having Captain Star Spangled Banner do so somehow made it worse.

"Buck is… _was_ a dead ringer for James Cagney though." Steve laughed without any effort behind it. "It was a little before my mom died… I just started art school with Buck. I woke up screaming so loud that Buck had to gag me with some newspaper so the neighbors wouldn't' come knocking. I missed a good three days of classes. Of course Bucky did too; he didn't want to leave me alone. Well, when it all stopped and that moment came to see my mark fully bloomed… there was nothing. _Nothing_. Marks fade to grey when a soulmate dies, but there wasn't any trace of a mark. Bucky and I came up with the words, and I put that down on any form that needed the information."

"They could have been mute," Tony offered. That was the only thing he could think of. 

Steve shook his head no. "There was girl who lived a couple blocks over from Bucky's. God what was her name? She was really nice. She always made sure everyone on the block had read the newspaper, and if they hadn't she'd pull out a copy and let them borrow it, or read it to them. Emma. Emma Engelmann. She always wore long dresses, long enough that she tripped over the fabric multiple times a day. One time she came over to check on me cause I was sick, and my mother was working double shifts at the hospital. I asked, "Sarah, why are your dresses so long?", or something like that I was five so it probably came out as gibberish." A smile broke through on the last word. "So she showed me. Her mark was of two hands doing some sort of sign. I think I'll always remember it. Emma told me that her soulmate was one of the quiet fellas that Mrs. Foley took in as tenants. He was mute, and communicated with hand signs. I just thought… I just thought that maybe…" Steve left his sentence hanging. He shook himself and smiled at him, one of the fakest smiles that Tony had ever seen. "Mind leading me to my room? I don't need that much space."

Okay, so maybe having a soulmark and then having it torn away wasn't as bad as never having one to begin with. If that was any sort of comfort.

~~~

The world could have ended, and it would have been his fault.

Pepper left, and he was all alone.

The Accords happened. He lost his best friend to a brain-washed psychopath. His other best friend could no longer walk.

He tried to mentor a teenager, and it had blown up in his face.

Tony was happier than ever that he hadn't met his match. He was too broken to deserve them.

~~~

"Stark, what do you know about an organization called Torchwood?"

Tony didn't bother stopping the project he was working on. He'd been in his lab for full day trying to fix the coding on the new version of DUM-E. "Hello to you too," he greeted Fury. "Did Friday let you in here?"

"No, your secretary had that honor."

Tony cursed, pausing at the keyboard. "Well she's fired. She shouldn't have let you do that. I hear I get rabid when I'm down here too long."

"Stark," Fury repeated through his teeth. " _Torchwood_?"

Tony sighed and spun around in his chair to face the big man himself. Perfect posture, hands folded across his back, and Fury was giving him a stare down that he previously thought Rhodey's mom was capable of. "UK organization just about as secret as S.H.I.E.L.D. nowadays." He grinned when Fury frowned at that. "Been around since Queen Victoria, specializes in aliens, gotten a lot of business as of late. Their main campus in London was destroyed in the Cybermen Invasion _thing_ in 2007. And people say that America has all the crazies. Why?"

Fury answered firmly, "Because we're working very closely with them on the Infinity project, and some of their team will be flying out here."

"Oh, so I'm privy to the inner circle of the Infinity project now?"

"No."

Tony hummed, tapping his index finger to his lips. "You know that I've never been affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. and yet, _you_ need my help. Why's that? Do you want me to spare a room or two cause that is not happening."

Fury rolled his eye. "You're so generous. _No_ , I wasn't asking that. I want you to work with their technical person. Both of you happened to be working on the same thing--"

"She's working on fixing my DUM-E too?" Tony cut in.

Fury pushed forth ignoring Tony. "And it will be valuable to the situation to pool all our data together.

"Working on a super secret project that I know nothing about with someone I don't know will be fun. Screams tesseract all over again."

Fury's face was devoid of playfulness, if there ever had been any. "The Torchwood team is arriving in ten hours. I expect you to greet them at the site upstate. Here." He tossed a thumb drive to Tony who caught it. "That has all the information you need. Read the files, Stark!" Fury called as he turned, walking away, his long coat swirling dramatically.

Tony glared at Fury's back until the man turned the corner. He spun around in his chair again until he was facing his computer. "FRIDAY, show me everything you got on Torchwood."

"Right away, boss."

~~~

It was two o'clock in the morning on a Saturday when FRIDAY woke him up.

"Dr. Sato from Torchwood is here to see you, sir. She looks livid."

Without another word, Tony flipped over the covers, put on a pair of slippers, and dashed to the elevator outside his room. He couldn't help but grin. He'd met the Torchwood representatives yesterday. The big guy in charge, _Captain_ Jack Harkness, who literally didn't exist. No birth certificate. No school records. No doctors visits. No military documents. Then there was Dr. Toshiko Sato. The whole time she had her eyes glued to her laptop, completely ignoring all of the conversation around her. Tony had attempted to speak to her, but Harkness stopped him, saying that she was busy and couldn't be disturbed. So Tony _might_ have remotely hacked into her laptop and messed with her programs, leaving an obvious trail that lead straight to him. Just for fun. Just to at least talk to the person Fury wanted him to partner up with.

"Sir, I am informing you that Dr. Sato is currently threatening to hack my system. Would you like me to initiate Code Zero?"

"No need, FRIDAY. I don't blame her."

The ride down to the first floor was too slow. He'd asked FRIDAY to speed it up, but she gave him a lecture on elevator safety until he reached his floor and stepped out.

Dr. Sato was pacing in the waiting area. She was scowling, picking at her thumb nail as he walked. She looked like she'd hopped out of because she's dressed in plain tank top with matching shorts, her hair is up in a messy ponytail. FRIDAY had barely uttered a syllable to introduce Tony when Dr. Sato spotted him. She was all fury as she crossed the room. She stopped so they were barely six inches apart. She had to tilt her head upwards to talk to him.

"Did you hack into my program?"

Tony inhaled a deep gulp of air.

Her words.

Those were the words that had been over his heart.

He tried his best not to think about what his next words would be. All of the experts stressed not to, since no matter what you said, if you were their soulmate, your words would already been etched on their skin.

He gave her his trademark cheeky smile. "If I said I only did it to meet you, would you forgive me?"

Dr. Sato stared at him, her jaw dropped. She must have felt self-conscious all of a sudden, because she looked down at what she was wearing and hugged her chest. "It's you then?"

Tony nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess it's me."

~~~

"But you found your soulmate. Shouldn't that be that?"

Tony briefly paused for a split second, before taking off the electric screwdriver's battery and replacing it with the spare one at his feet.

"It doesn't always work out that way, kid."

Tony thought back to his short time with Toshiko… _Tosh_ as she had insisted. During her week long stay in New York, he had taken her out to dinner, a simple dinner so they could get to know each other. It was nice, easy. Yet the press ruined it by snapping photos of them going in and out of the restaurant, and even of them eating that weren't flattering to either of them. She'd been… beyond angry. Toshiko was scarier than Pepper when she was in full on raging monster mode. It didn't help that they were working _together_ on this project. Tony kept trying to apologize for things that were out of control, but Toshiko would hear none of it. Their conversations were short, straight to the point, and business like.

Tony hated it all.

It really didn't help things that her employer, _Captain_ Jack Harkness, a man who didn't exist, didn't approve of him at all.

Peter asked innocently, "Why not?"

"Cause life is complicated, Peter. It's messy. People are stupid, and tend not to think their actions through. People have different ideas on how to live their lives, and don't get along even on the basic level. Your soulmate could be everything you hate rolled up into one person. Fate could royally screw you over and you're matched with a racist, or a rapist, or murderer? What kind of system is that to have anyone matched to an abuser? What does that say about yourself? 

"Oh."

Peter was quiet after that, and Tony wasn't exactly in a mood to conversate. Not that he'd been very pleasant just then. He felt awful, but in a childish way he didn't want to apologize. There was the calming hum of a few computers that were running 24/7, and the scratching of lead against paper as his protege wrote.

Peter came over after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays for an hour and a half. His aunt dropped him off, waited in the main lobby, and took him home. She didn't trust Tony anymore with her nephew, but May knew that an internship at Stark Industries under Tony Stark himself spoke volumes when applying to colleges.

Tony didn't blame her for the harshness.

Peter sitting cross-legged on one of his workbenches, a history textbook on top of his left knee while he was balancing a binder that he used as a makeshift hard surface to do his homework on the right. 

"I don't know who my soulmate is," Peter admitted softly.

"You're young. Most people, _if_ they meet their soulmate at all, usually don't until they're thirty or so. I met Toshiko, and I'm almost fifty." He shuddered. "You have your whole life to find them. Don't worry so much." God, Tony was giving sound advice to a teenager. Who had he turned into? "Pass me the wrench?"

"My mark has been there since I was born," Peter said as he handed off the tool. "May said my parents cried when they saw it. Not like crying for joy, but legit crying. Not that May is any better. It's one of the reasons she's protective of me nowadays. That and spending my nights and weekends fighting for the little guy. _I_ think she's overreacting. It's the words," he explained. "She thinks my match is _a lot_ older because of what my mark says."

Tony didn't want to pry, it wasn't his right. He tried his best not to ask anyone about their marks since Steve shared his secret with him. It was personal, and Tony sucked at being around people when he wasn't putting on his public persona. He was about to open his mouth to tell the kid he didn't want to know, when Peter spoke.

"You're a lot younger than I can thought you'd be," he recited from memory. "May is worried they'll be some kind of pervert. Or maybe a big bad who thought Spider-Man wasn't in high school Or _both_." He laughed weakly. "I dunno." He shrugged, setting his mechanical pencil behind him on the table. "It's like you said maybe I'll never find them. I thought… I _hoped_ it was going to be this girl I'd had a crush on. She was a year older than me so I thought it made sense. Her first words to me wasn't 'You're a lot younger than I can thought you'd be'. Not even close. 'Hey, is this seat taken?', Peter tried to mimic a high pitched voice, but completely failed, somehow sounding like a poor imitation of Gilbert Gottfried. "God, I was so stupid."

"Hey, hey. None of that." Tony put down his tools, got up off the floor and stood in front of his protege. "Hey, look at me." He waited until Peter finally met his gaze, his eyes full of pain. Tony couldn't help notice that Peter was biting the inside of his cheek and had balled up his fists. "You're not stupid. You're far from stupid. Don't let it get to your head, but you're one of the smartest people I have met."

Peter's eyes lit up. "Really Mr. Stark?"

"Don't let it get to your head," he repeated, trying to hold back a grin. "I know you're too young to know this, and you probably don't care, but take some advice from an old man. Just because you thought someone was soulmate, but wasn't, doesn't make you stupid. I used to think Pepper was mine, even if our words didn't match up. I think she hoped it at one time too. But after awhile we decided we were better just as friends. Point is, you might not meet your match, but that doesn't mean you can't have a crush, or fall in love, or take a girl to the prom… Or boy," he added when Peter scrunched up his face at the suggestion of one gender. "Don't let the words on your skin rule your life."

Before Tony could say anymore, an alarm buzzed, and FRIDAY spoke, "It is time for Peter to leave, boss."

In a flurry Peter stuffed his books and three-ring binders into his backpack. He shrugged it on, darting to the entrance of the lab. "Thank you, Mr. Stark. For everything. I-- Oh Dr. Sato!"

Tony's head shot up and he tried to crane his neck to see Tosh, but she was hidden by Peter's form.

"I've heard so much about you! Okay not really, but it seemed the right thing to say. I dunno why I said that. Oh God, I'm rambling now."

"May Parker is threatening to come down to your lab to retrieve Peter, boss."

The teen hissed. "I gotta go. See you later, Mr. Stark!" Peter quickly waved and ran out the door.

Tony tried to look busy, pretending to fiddle with the cord of his electric screwdriver. His palms were sweaty, and the cord easily slipped through his figures to his embarrassment.

"Hello."

Tony hesitated to look up, but when he did she took his breath away. Her hair was straight and perfect. She wasn't wearing any makeup and she looked so beautiful.

"What you said to him was nice. The last bit. Not the bit that translated that you despise soulmates."

"I wish you hadn't heard all of that. I don't hate soulmates. I don't hate you."

"I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you." Toshiko took a tentative step forward. "It wasn't fair or mature."

"It's fine," Tony lied. "I totally get why someone wouldn't want their lives to be in the spotlight. I do, I really do. I get that's why you wouldn't want to be _with_ me. Or even be friends."

"It was a bit of a shock. I'm used to my life being insiginatin, really. I'm used to being another face in the crowd of millions."

Tony nodded, and gulped. "Yeah."

Silence fell between them. Tony rolled the thick black cord between his fingers as he sat on the floor. He wished he could escape from this situation. It was unbearable. 

"I'm willing to give it a go."

Tony's heart lifted, but braced for the inevitable disappointment. "Give what a go?"

"Us."

"After everything?"

"Yeah. I… We… We should try at least, you know? If it's okay with you?"

Tony's heart soared. "Okay, yeah. I'd like that too."

"Good," she said like a large weight had been taken off her shoulders. "That's good. I'm leaving in the morning. Would you mind seeing me off?"

Tony grinned. "I'd love to."

~~~

Tony didn't see the dawn sky too often. True, being an insomniac he was typically up at this time, however he would be in his lab focused on some project. The sky was like a watercolor painting with swirls of pink, purple, and blue. The morning sun peeking through the long streaks of clouds. Tony didn't like anything dealing with nature, but he could give nature this one.

The whirling of the helicopter blades disturbed the quiet sounds of the forest the Avengers HQ had invaded. Tony heard a couple people yelling, preparing for the helicopter to take off. 

Tony waited impatiently, digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans even further. Harkness and Toshiko were standing by the door to the helicopter, their backs toward him, but occasionally glancing over their shoulders in his direction.

It seemed like forever until Tosh broke away from her boss. She walked confidently towards him, and stopped so there was about three feet between them.

"So," she started off.

He repeated, "So."

"I guess I won't see you for a while."

Tony arched his brow. "Are you saying there will be a next time?" He really hoped he didn't sound too needy.

"Yes. If-- If you'd like to? See me again I mean."

"It might be hard. I work all the time."

"So do I," she interrupted. "I don't get days off. _Ever_. Not even when I'm sick."

"Maybe your boss could give you a break every once in awhile," Tony said pointedly, eyeing Harkness over Tosh's head.

She punched his arm. "Stop it. I need you two to be at least civil to each other."

Tony winced, held the spot where she'd hit. "Damn, did anyone tell you that you pack a mean punch? Whoa! Whoa! Hey!" he cried as she raised her fist like she was going to hit him again. "I'll be good, okay? I'll behave if _he_ does."

"He _will_ ," she stressed. "I don't want you to start out in the wrong foot with my other co-workers."

Tony cringed. Tosh had told him about her friends. He wasn't looking forward to meeting them. From what he concluded was that Ianto was the quiet one you didn't want to piss off, Gwen was more than Harkness, and then Tony would have to deal with the backlash from Owen as Tosh's ex.

"It might be worth it. Taking a bit of a break from work every once in awhile. So we can talk

Tosh blushed and nodded. "I think I'd like that. Can I--"

The clear, sharp yell of "Toshiko!" cut through the air. Tony had to admit he was impressed that Harkness could project over all the noise.

Tosh hurried away back to the chopper. She was halfway between where Tony stood and were Harkness was waiting when she stopped in her tracks. Tony was beginning to get concerned when she hadn't moved, but suddenly she pivoted on her heels and made her way back to him. Tony opened his mouth to ask her a question, but Toshiko grasped his hands, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a kiss on his cheek. She smiled cheekily. Tony was slack jawed as he watched her dash back to the helicopter. Harkness helped her inside the chopper. As he was climbing in, Harkness sent a hard glare at Tony, who returned the look. A tiny hand whipped out from the helicopter and smacked Harkness' shoulder. Toshiko's head popped out, and it looked like she was scolding the captain. The man rolled his eyes and hopped on. Toshiko gave a soft wave to Tony. Without thinking, he waved back.

The helicopter lifted off into sky, that somehow had changed into it's normal shade of blue. Tony stood on the landing pad with Happy waiting several feet back well after the helicopter disappeared in the distance. All the while thumbing the screen on his cell phone that was nestled in his pocket.

Tony had only taken two steps when his text notification went off. 

_Can I call you when I get home? Do you use Skype?_

Tony typed back with one hand,

_Of course! I'll log onto Skype just for you :-)_

_I feel honored_ , she replied back.

_You should. I don't use updated social media for just anyone. ___

__After a moment or two, Tosh answered with a single smiley emoji, and then fell silent._ _

__Not even Happy would admit it, but Tony _might_ have walked away from the landing pad with a skip in his step._ _

__Things weren't perfect, and maybe they never would be. Tony knew that his soulmark didn't weigh too much on his mind anymore._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone who read this until the end. Thank you to Meatball42 for the fun prompts. Thank you to the mods who run Crossovering. 
> 
> Leave some kudos and/or comments to tell me what you thought about this story.


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